It's getting toward time to start compiling the annual weird Christmas songs list. But I'm feeling lazy. And so, apparently, is singer Ana Egge, above. And that leads to a contemplation of lazy songs, after the jump. ...

Sabrina Bryan, who should have been in the finals, was kicked off tonight. Very irked notes from the telecast, below.

(A few thoughts about Tuesday night's "Reaper" are in the post below this one. "Reaper" was written Wednesday morning, but I set its post time for last night so I can keep my "Dancing" rant at the top for a bit longer. This post consists of notes from Tuesday night)

I had bailed out on "Reaper" for the last couple of weeks because, after a promising start, it had fallen into the same plot week after week. I was recording it, but I didn't feel any great urge to watch. But this morning I checked out last night's episode, and it seemed somewhat better.

When the 8-0 New England Patriots visit the 7-0 Indianapolis Colts on Sunday (CBS, 4:15 PM ET), it marks the latest meeting in a season for two unbeaten teams. NFL Network will be there with record-breaking coverage of its own featuring 36.5 hours (34 hours in high definition) of Patriots and Colts specific programming – a record number of hours devoted to a non-Super Bowl game. Among those 36.5 hours is an extra hour of coverage after midnight Saturday made possible by the end of Daylight saving time and clocks being turned back an hour at 2:00 AM.

John Francis Daley, still fondly remembered from "Freaks and Geeks" and "Kitchen Confidential," has become a regular on Fox's "Bones." He's been seen there recently as a therapist and will continue the role. Details after the jump. ...

Didn't watch much TV over the weekend, save for some football, a little baseball and "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry," for my DVD column. Not a great movie. In fact, while flipping this morning before going into work, I finally settled down with "Akeelah and the Bee," a very satisfying experience even with its considerable parallels to "Searching for Bobby Fischer" (which I also like very much).But there are some things ponging in my head, including the following:

If you've read my review of "Dan in Real Life" in today's Beacon Journal, you're fine. If you tried to read the post at Ohio.com today, you may have been surprised that it ended in mid-sentence. Several paragraphs are not visible, so I am posting the complete review -- what was on the Web and the missing conclusion -- and a few notes after the jump. ...

"Tell you what, Denzel, you take 'A Good Year' and I'll throw in this car. ..."

There's a passage of interest from an upcoming Matt Lauer interview with Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington. While hyping their new movie, "American Gangster," they are asked which of the other's roles they'd like to have. ...

Well, anything I might have (finally) said about "Deathly Hallows" has been superseded by J.K. Rowling's recent declaration that Albus Dumbledore was gay. The result has been a lot of jokes, and a bunch of stereotyping ...

I took a few minutes this morning for last night's "How I Met Your Mother." (Hey, I had a dental appointment later. I needed a laugh.) This was a good one, and not only because it shows that horndogs should pay attention in math class, too. (By the way, you can find the episode -- and the details of how to use a graph -- at CBS.com.)

The bride and I returned today from a short visit to New Jersey and our Target Demo, with day trips to NYC as part of the trip. Saw the revival of "A Chorus Line." Agonized over the Indians (whose defensive collapse went well beyond pitching). Wasn't even sure how much I was going to blog tonight. Had to post the "Amazing Race" news, above, and a little surprise at the beginning of "Dancing With the Stars" put me on track with that show. But I'm not expecting much after that; long car trips do wear one down. I hope to be back in fighting trim tomorrow.

Well, a quirky mystery with music did nothing for viewers (nor for critics). And those of you have waited patiently for "The Amazing Race" will get it back sooner because of "Laughlin's" collapse. Details after the jump ...

If you've read my rant about people talking and singing along at shows, then you know that this is the place to post your horror stories and suggestions for how to stop it. (If you haven't read the story, you can find it here.

I can tell you that it's a pretty widespread problem; we caught a performance of the revival of "A Chorus Line" on Broadway recently, and a woman behind us was singing along with some of the numbers. I think the performers onstage were doing fine without her assistance. Anyway, to post your own stories, use the comment section below.

Not sure how much I will actually watch the Indians tonight, and how much I will do my game-on-laptop, TV-on-something-else thing. I've already written some thoughts about tonight's "Mad Men," which if the timer works will be posted as soon as the show is over. I may have some other thoughts along the way. Like this one:

Isn't it convenient that on the day of a pivotal game in the American League Championship Series, one where the Indians are poised to clinch, the Yankees have their big Joe Torre moment? Couldn't be that they wanted to steal some headlines from the teams who are still actually playing? Couldn't be that selfish, could they?

She has also died, and an obit with the famous picture is here. Solid actress, good resume ("The King and I," "The Chalk Garden," "Tea and Sympathy," "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison"), six Oscar nominations.

Sometimes people have to stop talking fast and let themselves feel something.

Last night was one of those where I just ran out of steam, managing to get through only half of "Private Practice" before sailing away on Lethe. But before that I did get through "Pushing Daisies" and was not entirely displeased. ...

Having endured another lousy fall in the ratings, Fox is looking more and more toward January. And one of its hopes is "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," the TV spin-off from the "Terminator" saga. The date is Jan. 14. The release is after the jump. ...

A bit cloudy outside, but some things have brought sunshine. One was the arrival in the mail of the NINTH edition of The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present, by Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh. The directory -- known simply as Brooks & Marsh to its fans -- is an indispensable reference for anyone who does what I do (from writing about TV to answering reader questions). And it has been about four years since the eighth edition. Add it to your holiday shopping (or wanting) list now; it lists for $29.95 in paperback.

As you may have heard, Nielsen is now measuring DVR viewing within a week of a show's telecast. It takes longer to get the numbers out as a result, but the networks are building their propaganda around the new stats, as you can see after the jump. ...

"Have you seen our ratings? We may need these fast-food jobs as a fallback."

Those of us who have fretted over the changes in the second season of "FNL" take no comfort from the latest Nielsen ratings. Variety reports here that the drama lost considerable audience from its season premiere to last Friday's telecast.

Calvin Trillin once proposed that a good campaign slogan would be "Never Been Indicted." In that spirit, I suggest that the slogan for "Samantha Who?" should be "Not Nearly As Horrible As 'Cavemen.' " ...

The scene that persuaded me to watch "Pushing Daisies" at least once more.

(You know, after listening to Chip Caray declare "Here come the Yankees" too many times, it was kind of nice just now to hear Joe Buck punctuate a Cleveland rally with "Here come the Indians." But that's not what I'm here to talk about.)

Returns Oct. 30. Can two menshare an apartment withoutdriving each other crazy?

Didn't feel a great urge to watch anything that was actually on TV last night, although the DVR is well-filled. (I did give "Back to You" another try this morning, and I keep thinking it should be much funnier than it is, or even just funny. Cast is fine. Writing so-so.) Instead, I checked out two episodes from the new season of "Nip/Tuck." Good/bad news after the jump ..

I've been in the office most of the day, and last night's viewing is stuffed into a DVR at home. But while trying to find the top of my desk, I hit a USA Network episode of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." And I did see Monday's "How I Met Your Mother" and "Two and a Half Men" from my recordings, so I have a few thoughts there.

I also have a LOT of thoughts about the next two episodes of "Mad Men" -- tomorrow night's and then the season finale -- and am trying to decide what to say now and what to save until after you see the telecasts. That's a separate post, in any case, save for yet another recommendation that you tune in.

Had some ongoing technical difficulties yesterday afternoon and evening which stalled my live blogging. Also, the bride and I went to the University of Akron's annual SAMS (Students Against Multiple Sclerosis) Rock Alike lip-synching contest. Always enjoyable. (Brian Dominguez!) But, aside from checking the results for "Dancing With the Stars" last night and watching about half of "Reaper" this morning, I'm behind on my viewing. Still, a few notes for those of you who did watch "Dancing," after the jump. ...

The blog system went kerflooey around midnight last night, when I was in the middle of adding some notes about Indians-Yankees to a post. I'll get back to that, since bloggable material has been piling up. Item One: The long-awaited release of now-departed series "Third Watch" on DVD next year. Full release after the jump. ...

I spent much of last night watching Indians-Yankees. But, as you know, I saw the season premiere of "Friday Night Lights" quite some time ago. And I have been waiting for all of you to see it, so we can discuss one of the plot elements. Discussion begins after the jump ...

Just as a reminder that I wear a movie hat, here's a link to my review of "Into the Wild." I've also been meaning to post some thoughts about "The Kingdom," which I saw last weekend, and about the style of director Peter Berg. Maybe over this weekend.

As for the continued march through Thursday's shows, talk about "The Office," "My Name Is Earl" and "Mad Men," with spoilers, after the jump ...

Indians win, 12-3 and Kenny Lofton is player of the game. And of the year, considering the boost he has given the Indians and Indians fans this year. The TBS announcers have gone scurrying, since the Cubs-D'backs game is already going, so let's scurry as well -- to talking a little "Grey's." ...

When the Indians took the lead in the second, and then actually held it for a bit, I began to feel secure enough to channel-hop. Or at least to channel-hop while having a running score on my laptop. Last I looked, Indians led, 9-3. So let's talk "Survivor" tonight, with spoilers, after the jump ...

I'm looking at a crazy evening. Indians/Yankees at 6:30 p.m., for one thing. And all the DVRs pressed into service for other things: "Grey's," "CSI," "The Office" ... Since, when recording two things at once, I have to watch one of the two, I have tried to stagger the recordings to allow me to channel-flip back and forth between baseball and another show. Oh, the logistics of modern viewing.

As has been mentioned, Fox is introducing new kids to its group on "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" beginning with tomorrow's class. Bios after the jump, so you can figure out who will be next to leave the show after getting a sitcom ...

Besides watching the (not available for preview) "Cavemen" premiere last night, as well as recent doses of "Carpoolers," "Everybody Hates Chris," "Aliens in America," "30 Rock," "The Office," "My Name Is Earl," "How I Met Your Mother," "Two and a Half Men," "Girlfriends" and the overall picture is, well, mixed. ...

I've done basically the same thing as last week: Posted live during "Dancing" until 9 p.m., went over to "Heroes" for an hour, then came back to "Dancing" from my recording. So, as Tom Bergeron says, let's get to it ...

I check my work voice-mail and find very amused messages. Because I have a column in today saying Pamela Anderson was married to Chris Rock, not Kid Rock. Some days -- in this case, yesterday -- I'm just not safe around a keyboard.